Halo:Team Phoenix
by DarkBringerofLight
Summary: Team Phoenix,a group of SPARTAN-II commandoes are written as KIA from augmentations and trained separately from the other 33 survivors. Follows their hardships from their first mission on a scanning outpost to the Battle of Reach. Rating changes over time
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME (except for the few characters and places that I made up…. Those are mine… .) Halo, Halo accessories, and the entire mythology as a whole belongs to Bungie, not me. Just wanted to get that straight.

**0001 Hours November 3****rd****, 2526 (Military Calendar), Remote Scanning Outpost **_**Overseeing Eye,**_** On the edge of the Epsilon Eridani System **

"Do you understand your objectives?" the authoritative voice crackled in Cody-223's COM, he looked at one of the screens that projected a view of the outside of the ship he was on, _See No Evil, _he got a clear view of the wings, bat-like in shape, and fitting for the ships stealth purposes. According to Lieutenant Commander Ross, (his team's commanding officer) had said, this ship was the perfect choice for the mission. Cody placed his finger to the transmit button on his helmet.

"Yes sir, I understand." he said with a calm tone of voice.

"You think that you are capable of briefing your team Squad Leader?" Ross asked.

"Affirmative" and then he heard a clack as the COM channel closed. Looking across the cargo bay he saw half of his squadmates look up and acknowledge him. Looking at the screen again he saw another ship of the same model move to fly parallel to theirs, the ship known as _Hear No Evil _was, like the ship he was currently on, a Chiroptera-class vessel and it carried the other half of his squad.

Chiroptera-class vessels were never that big; due to the stealth ablative coating that had to be constantly maintained after every mission to make sure the ship was able to be invisible to the radar. These models were customized specifically to hold small squads and move them from one place to another silently.

He opened a COM channel between him and his team and pressed the transmit button.

"The Lieutenant Commander just briefed me and he wishes for me to brief all of you on what we have to do." he said into the helmet mic.

"Why didn't he just brief all of us sir?" a female voice replied almost immediately

"Because, Kate, he's afraid that a strong signal could be tracked, he doesn't want to risk our element of surprise." he answered. Kate-531 groaned into her mic and Cody remembered that Kate preferred things to be much simpler. That didn't necessarily mean she didn't enjoy a challenge now and then.

"Anyways, three hours ago the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) lost contact with Remote Scanning Outpost _Overseeing Eye _after it neglected to make its hourly report. The UNSC and Ross have reason to believe that Insurrectionists are responsible."

"So the Innies are going to be our first victims huh?" said the soldier sitting across from the Squad Leader. He was tensing and ready for action. Eric-472 always enjoyed what he did.

"Innies" was a nickname the Marines had learned to call the rebels.

_Because it was better to think of the enemy as not human even though they were. _He thought. The soldier sitting next to Eric, Brandon-323, chuckled a little.

"You sure you don't seem a little _too _excited Eric?"

"We're Spartans, Blondie, we were made for this."

"Our mission is simple," Cody continued, "infiltrate the scanning outpost and neutralize whatever threat we come across, with any means necessary. These ships are going to escort us to a position about 200 meters from the installation. From there we're going to make a zero-gee jump to one of the exterior repair hatches and use them as a way inside, so sorry Michael, no sniping will be done today." Cody heard a sigh over the COM. Michael-256 was the team's designated sniper and he usually got grumpy if he couldn't bring a sniper rifle along with him.

"Acknowledged Squad Leader" Michael said, though his voice was a little more enthusiastic than Cody predicted. Then again this was their first mission, everyone was excited.

"Glad to hear it Spartan," He said with a smile, "Steven you're really quiet over there, you alright?"

Steven-274, was the quietest Spartan in the group, Cody had learned during their time together that he didn't usually have that much to say.

"Ready to go Squad Leader, our pilot says ETA is two minutes."

"I copy." the Squad Leader replied. Closing the COM channel he picked up the M329 Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) and removed the magazine and after seeing it was full placed it back inside. He also picked up an M6G Magnum Sidearm and did the same, just as satisfied. He placed it in a holster on his waist and slid a sound suppressor onto his DMR, twisting it to lock it in place; this mission would require them to be quiet. He then checked his suit to make sure it was air tight, any holes and he would die of depressurization in the vacuum of space.

His suit was form-fitting and matte black, resembling a full body version of a Kevlar vest. His helmet was the same color as the body suit and had a clear visor, though when he pressed a button on the side it filmed over with an opaque silver film that covered his face from view.

When he was sure that the suit was good to go, he grabbed a Thruster-Pack (T-Pack) and attached it to his back with a click noise confirming it was on. Eric and Brandon did the same.

The Spartans across from him decided to equip themselves with MA2B assault rifles and M6G magnums. The assault rifles were silenced, as they were thinking the same thing he was.

Cody clicked another button and his Heads Up Display (HUD) flared on the inside of his visor. Hs vitals appeared at the top of his vision reading his status as perfect condition while on the bottom was a motion and thermal sensor and the vital signs of his teammates. Above Eric and Brandon's heads were arrows with their designation numbers.

"IFF tags are working." Cody said, satisfied.

"We have reached our destination sir." Kate said calmly over the COM. and then it clicked off. Cody knocked on the side the wall between him and he pilot, and the bay doors opened and the air rapidly escaped from the cargo bay. A fifteen minute timer appeared on his HUD in the upper left corner which represented his oxygen supply.

"Everyone check you O2 levels." He commanded.

"A-Ok" Kate said cheerfully.

"Fifteen minutes and counting." Michael replied.

"All systems go." Steven said in his usual, almost boring tone of voice. The Squad Leader took one last look across and the two Spartans stood up and each gave him a thumbs up.

"Ok then Team Phoenix, let's show the boss what we can do."

The Spartans ran to the edge of the cargo hold and jumped into the vacuum of space.


	2. Prologue Pt 2

**WARNING: Due to the Halo timeline, I changed the year from 2526 to 2525, sorry if this confuses you but I'm too lazy to go back and change it in Prologue Pt. 1.**

**DISCLAIMER: I, TheDarkBringerofLight, do not own the rights to Halo (Bungie owns that and I don't mind at all). I also do not sell or distribute Halo-products; your nearest local stores do that for you. I do however own the OCs and OLs (original locations) that are in this fanfic.**

**0015 Hours, November 3rd, 2525 (Military Calendar), Remote Scanning Outpost **_**Overseeing Eye**_**, On the edge of the Epsilon Eridani System**

"This is SPARTAN-223," Cody said into his COM, _"See No Evil _you are clear to retreat to a safe distance." the pilot of _See No Evil, _Allan Whitmore, or as Team Phoenix had become accustomed to calling him, Big Brother (A reference to a 20th century novel), replied in a cheerful voice.

"Roger, Squad Leader, signal me when you need pick up." the stealth ship then turned around and flew away until Cody could no longer see it. Its sister ship, _Hear No Evil,_ also proceeded to leave, as Kate must have told it the same thing.

As they drifted towards the facility, the Squad Leader went over the objectives with each Spartan again to make sure they were clear what to do. After he received a prompt "Affirmative" from each one, he assigned each soldier to one of two three-man teams. Cody, Eric, and Brandon were Phoenix-Alpha and Kate, Michael, and Steven were Phoenix-Bravo, with Cody and Kate leading respectively.

Cody had appointed Kate as his second-in-command, not because of her pure ability as a soldier, but because she knew how to work under pressure. Granted, all the Spartans on his team could do that, it was just that Kate's style reminded him of his own, which gained his favor of her.

"Ok then," he said, "if everyone has it memorized, lets move in, a few short bursts from our T-Packs should get us there in no time." At that Brandon and Eric began to fire off their T-Packs a little at a time. Without any resistance in the vacuum of space, they quickly picked up speed and drifted ahead of their leader. Looking to the left, Kate and her group had already covered alf the distance.

_Oh no you don't. _He thought with a smile. He jetted past Eric and Brandon, who quickly followed suit and were at his side.

Kate and Phoenix-Bravo were getting further away from them, she had taken the initiative and decided splitting up was the best decision, once again proving to Cody that he chose well. She was heading towards the repair hatch on the left side while Phoenix-Alpha headed to the right.

When Cody neared the exterior of the scanning outpost he shifted his weight back so his feet would land on the side, right next to the hatch. He felt what little shock his suit didn't absorb as he grasped onto the handle and laid his eyes on a keypad. Code? No problem. His teammates landed next to him and Brandon was immediately on the keypad, using one of many devices he brought with him. This one in particular used infinite combinations in its database to get the keypad to accept one of them, which would be the correct one.

"And here we... go," he hesitated as he finished his work, a green light flashing on the keypad, "the code is 476782673 sir." he smiled, satisfied he did a good job.

"Good job, Brandon," Cody said placing a hand to his transmit button, "You hear that Kate?"

"Loud and clear Squad Leader, see you inside."

"You too." Pulling it open, he motioned his fellow Spartans o go inside and followed them close behind. After maneuvering through a short series of vent-like passageways they emerged into a hallway, colored mainly a dull white. A light "pop" was heard as the air was sealed back inside the vent. The timer on the Spartans' HUD's disappeared as they breathed air from outside their suits.

"Phoenix-Alpha is in." he said over the COM.

"Phoenix-Bravo is in as well." Kate replied.

"Phoenix-Bravo try to see if you and your team can't find a way to the control and observation deck, if their leader is anywhere it's probably there."

"Roger, on it, Phoenix-Bravo-One out."

Cody began moving, his footsteps almost silent on the tiled floor. His squadmates were close behind him, weapons pointed in front of them. Cody raised his hand in a fist at his side to signal them to stop. A dead Marine was propped against the wall, bullet holes riddling his body.

"So much for the Innies taking hostages." Brandon said solemnly.

"He won't have died for nothing, search his body, see if we can't scrounge some extra ammo." Cody would not let this soldier's death be of no help to his allies. Brandon found an extra clip for a magnum which he gave to Eric and three fragmentation grenades, enough for each of them. The Marine's rifle, unfortunately, was empty. Each Spartan gave the fallen comrade a silent farewell and went on their way.

"Ross could have supplied us with a map." Eric groaned after several turns.

"He's testing us, can't you see that?" Brandon replied, "What I'm wondering is where all the hostiles are."

"This seems to be a network of hallways leading to repair hatches to the outside. Maintenance workers probably came down here." Cody looked around, "We need to find an elevator."

"Sir, looks like Brandon jinxed us, I see three hostile dots on my motion sensor, coming up ahead to the right." Eric tightened his grip on his gun.

Cody responded by pressing as close as he could to the right wall pointing his DMR towards where he expected the enemies to be. The others followed his example and pointed their rifles down range. As soon as all three came into view (the sight of them proving Ross's suspicions they were rebels.) Cody pulled the trigger, a single round slamming through the head of the Innie furthest back. Phoenix-Alpha-Two and Three fired one short burst at the targets on their respective sides.

The enemy didn't have time to fire a shot, let alone register their enemy when they hit the ground, dead.

The trio of Spartans felt strange, each had taken their first human life, and even though that was what war was about, they hesitated before moving forward. They met no more rebels, which caused Cody to believe that it was a sort of skeleton patrol, or small group of guards assigned to an assumedly remote area. This meant they probably did not expect them to enter from here.

"Phoenix-Alpha-One?" Kate's voice sounded through the COM, "This is Phoenix-Bravo-One. We have found an elevator, meet up with us and we'll take it to the control and observation deck."

"Roger, will be there ASAP." Cody and the rest of Phoenix-Alpha jogged, weapons at the ready, towards Kate's IFF tag and found Phoenix-Bravo waiting in front of the elevator. Steven stood up from his sitting position against the wall and nodded to his Squad Leader. Though her visor covered her face, Cody could just see Kate's smile.

"You ready?" Cody asked.

"Affirmative." Kate said, her mood showing in her voice, she seemed excited, though not as much as Eric, who was moving from one foot to the other in anticipation.

Suddenly they heard a bing from the elevator as it reached their floor.

Steven promptly broke into a sprint across the small expanse of hallway and pulled a combat knife out of a sheath on his chest. He ran through the door, which had only just opened enough to let him through, and jammed his weapon into the heart of a surprised rebel, cupping his hand over his mouth to prevent him from screaming. The two guards next to him looked at him, eyes widening and trained their weapons on the Spartan...

Until the elevator doors revealed them and they were sprayed with short bursts from Michael and Kate's assault rifles. Once Steven pulled his blade from the center rebel's body, all he hostiles had collapsed to the ground. A short silence followed.

"Well... let's not take _that_ elevator." Eric said with a chuckle, after which he bumped fist with Brandon.

"Agreed." the Squad Leader replied. Pressing the OPEN button on the adjacent elevator, they patiently waited for their transport and when the bing sounded they filed into the elevator. A touch screen turned on next to the door and Kate pressed the button that would send them to the top floor. As it ascended, Steven flicked the blood off his knife and put it away.

"Three to zero, Squad Leader." Kate bragged.

"Actually its Three to three," Cody said, smirking behind his visor, "we took out a few on our way here."

"Can't let me have my moments can you?" Kate sighed sarcastically. Cody just laughed and waited patiently as the door opened.

Revealing about thirty armed Insurrectionists, all with their guns pointed at them.

"Ah shit," Eric said, annoyed, "any suggestions Squad Leader?"

Cody was about to open his mouth when the firing squad parted to reveal a man with dark skin and a stubble of hair on his chin, who then proceeded to stand in front of the group.

This group of rebels was wearing suits similar to theirs. The black suits Team Phoenix was wearing enabled them to turn down their thermal signature so they could fool thermal sensors. If these suits were similar, hey probably did the same thing to theirs. They also appeared to have been waiting for them, which would explain why they didn't show up on motion sensors either. The Spartans were trapped and they knew it.

"Get out of there." the leader said demandingly. The Spartans walked out slowly and carefully, trying not to make sudden movements that would get them shot. They arranged themselves parallel to the firing squad.

"That's better." he said, satisfied, "Hello UNSC dogs, I am Daniel Mathers, and today will be the day you die." Steven turned his head to the side and looked at Cody, who was directly to his right.

"Squad Leader," he whispered, "we might have a problem."


	3. Prologue Pt 3

Disclaimer: The OCs and OLs are mine… the story and mythology however…are not. Bungie is doing a better job with it anyway.

**0036 Hours, November 3****rd****, 2525 (Military Calendar)/ Remote Scanning Outpost **_**Overseeing Eye**_**, On the edge of the Epsilon Eridani System**

Staring death in the face wasn't something Team Phoenix had planned on doing today. Cody could tell everyone was very surprised and maybe… afraid? His HUD showed everyone's heart rates going up. Though as quickly as they went up, they went back down, probably because they saw him and Kate's heart rates, which were perfectly normal. They needed to keep a calm head, and they needed someone to show them how.

He once considered open firing on the fire team, but that would probably end with six dead Spartans on the ground. Their suits could only take so much before they started feeling the punishment.

Talking their way out of it wasn't a great idea either. These guys seemed more privy to talk with their guns than their mouths.

"I knew someone would eventually show up," Mathers said, breaking the Squad Leader's train of thought, "but such a small team? They must think us amateurs!" He paced back and forth in front of the other rebels and then pointed at the Spartans.

"Drop your weapons." He said commandingly. Team Phoenix complied, throwing their weapons to the ground in front of them. The rebel leader looked at them, annoyed. "All your weapons." Cody took out his magnum as did his teammates and threw them down too. Cody assumed that they didn't consider their knives a threat, so he kept his. Still thinking, he couldn't seem to find a way out of this mess, and then suddenly an arrow appeared above Mathers' head on his HUD. The arrow read the distance to the Insurrectionist at about three meters. It had a 1 on the inside of it signifying that the target it was indicating was his. He suddenly smiled behind his visor.

_Kate you better hope whatever you're doing is going to work. _He thought.

**. . . .**

"…as soon as the IFF tags on our men were disappearing, we knew someone had shown up to ruin our operation."

Kate really hated it when people started running their mouths and bragging, especially when they were the enemy, so she immediately tagged Mathers. Hoping her squad leader would get the message.

She wasn't thinking of shooting up the place, they would most likely be shot before they could reach their guns, which were about a meter and a half in front of them. No, her plan was more fun, and as much as she enjoyed simplicity, mixing things up a bit wasn't so bad. Her hands very slowly began reaching down toward the frag grenades on her belt.

. . . .

Cody watched as three more rebels to the left were tagged, each marked with a 2. Kate had decided she was going to take out those. He then marked five more on the left most side with a 3. He was quite confident that Steven could do his job.

"I'm aware all your helmets have cameras built in so that you can send records of your missions back to your masters." Mathers was beginning to ramble, trying to get to them, Team Phoenix wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Five more marks, tagged with a 4.

_Put them down Mike, and make sure they stay there. _He thought.

"I'm going to use that against them and send them a message." Daniel pointed a finger at them with each word he said. "You. Will. Not. Win!"

Ten more marked, all to the right. Eric and Brandon were responsible to make sure those targets stopped breathing. He then marked five men in the center, giving him a total of six targets, and Kate marked two more for herself. Everybody had a target, every hostile was marked. Now all he had to do was wait for Kate to start whatever plan she was thinking of.

**. . . .**

Kate's fingers had found the pins of the two grenades strapped to either hip.

"Do you slaves have any last words?" The Insurrectionist leader said with a smirk. His query was met with silence, causing him to growl in annoyance.

Kate pulled the pins and began counting the seconds.

"No?" Mathers asked after regaining his composure. "Fine then," He quickly glanced back to the firing squad behind him. "Kill them."

Kate counted the third second and to the rebels her arms moved almost fast enough to blur as she grabbed the grenade on he left hip and threw it straight up into the air. She then grabbed the grenade on her right hip and threw it far over the terrorists' heads. They were surprised enough not to fire the instant she threw and this is what she counted on. By the fifth second, both grenades had exploded, their shrapnel sent flying through the lights overhead.

The entire room was plunged into darkness.

**. . . .**

The very instant the room went dark, Cody broke into a full blown sprint at Mathers and cleared the distance in just under two seconds. His eyes almost immediately adjusted to the darkness and though their suits had night vision, his Spartans found no use for it.

Unsheathing his knife, he jammed it right into the center of Mathers' chest. The scream of pain that emitted from his vocal cords caused the nearest two rebels to open fired into the dark. Their shots went wild, as their suits most likely didn't have night vision; they appeared to be of an older model. Cody pulled the dying rebel leader as close to himself as he could and felt some heavy thumps s the terrorists' rounds hit his human shield. He threw the recently made corpse at the Innie on his left, causing a surprised scream from him, and rolled towards the one on his right. He palmed his gun to the side and slammed his fist into his chest. He heard a snapping noise as his ribs broke and the Innie slid back a few inches. He dropped his gun to clutch his chest and Cody promptly caught the gun before it hit the ground and let loose some rounds up his body and into his skull. The hostile tag over his head disappeared as he hit the ground.

The other Innie he left underneath the corpse had pushed it off and started yelling angrily into the darkness as he saw his friends' IFF tags vanish left and right. Forgetting about the gun in his hand, he blindly ran towards the position of his fallen comrade.

Cody heard his footfalls on the floor. Gripping the submachine gun in both hands, he violently slammed it into the hostile's knee, causing it to snap. The rebel tripped and fell, crying and cursing in pain. Throwing the gun away, the Spartan brought his elbow down on his skull and the Innie's body shuddered as his skull broke from impact.

_Three down, two to go. _He counted. Looking to the side, he saw Kate roll past one of the Insurrectionists. Five seconds later, he exploded in a cloud of fire and blood. She had pulled the pins of the grenades on his belt as she rolled and let him die in the resulting explosion.

Eric was exchanging fists with another Insurrectionist. This fight didn't last long however. Eric swung his arm to the side and connected with his target's hip, sending him flying into a nearby wall, the metal denting from the body hitting it. He then picked up a magnum and shot two bullets directly into his enemy's skull just to make sure.

A terrorist in front of Cody turned to look towards the recently lost IFF tag and Cody took the opportunity to grab him by the head and wrench it violently to the side, causing his neck to snap. Grabbing a grenade off his belt, he pulled the pin and threw it between the last of his targets, the two of them gasping in surprise as the explosion engulfed their bodies.

The last seven rebels quickly fell, the very last dead after taking a point-blank shot to the face from Michael.

"Team Phoenix we're clear," Cody spoke very calmly for someone who just killed six people. "Brandon get on that computer."

"Yes sir," Brandon immediately sprinted to the main computer in the back of the room and its screen flared on as he neared it. Being an expert with computers, Cody couldn't have chosen anyone _but_ Brandon. Kate walked up to the Squad Leader as he pulled his knife out of Mathers.

"Why do you think they took over this place?" She asked.

"Probably wanted to catch some ships on their way back into the system." He replied.

"Doesn't really matter, they're dead now." Eric interjected.

"Not yet, we have to check the floors between here and maintenance, there might be more hostiles."

"Maybe not, Squad Leader." Brandon said. He beckoned Cody over to the console. Cody walked over and looked at the screen. "I found my way to the life support systems, I could shut them off remotely from here." He smirked under his helmet. "I could even shut off the atmosphere and suffocate them all to death." Cody didn't even have to think about it.

"That'll make this whole thing a whole lot easier, do it." He pressed his helmet's COM transmit button. "Big Brother, be here in fifteen minutes we need pickup." Allan's voice spoke back.

"Roger, Squad Leader, on my way."

"Ok team, prepare for zero-gee maneuvers, I want us out of here in fifteen minutes." Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and Michael pressed the OPEN button on the elevator and got the team inside. Cody was next to Brandon, hand on his shoulder. "Tell me when Brandon."

"Now." Brandon pressed a key and suddenly all the bodies in the room lifted off the ground as gravity turned off in the entire outpost. The O2 timer appeared on Cody's HUD. He and Brandon planted their feet on the side of the console and pushed off with their feet, drifting into the elevator. As soon as they joined their comrades in the elevator Steven pressed the button that would take them back to the maintenance floor. From there they would take the repair hatches back to the outside.

"Mission accomplished Spartans," Cody said into his mic. "we're going home."


	4. C1: Congratulations, You Beat Easy Mode

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Halo mythology. That belongs to Bungie. Team Phoenix and the other OCs are mind though. A certain quote was taken out of Halo: Fall of Reach, so I don't own that either….im pretty sure I don't.

AU: Sorry it took so long to type this up, jeez this one is much longer than all the other ones. Ive written up to Chapter 3 and I can't type as fast as I can write. T.T. So for those of you that are starting to like this my apologies for the wait.

**Chapter 1: Congratulations…. You Beat Easy Mode.**

**0135 Hours, November 3****rd**** 2525 (Military Calendar), Aboard UNSC vessel, **_**Xerxes Fall**_**, Epsilon Eridani System**

Cody turned off his helmet's HUD and gripped the underside as he removed it from his head, taking a deep breath of air through his nose and mouth. He placed it on the edge of his bed and lightly ran a hand over his shaved head. His hair had not grown back since the day he and his fellow Spartans went through the surgeries that made them what they were. He could remember the needles, how they drilled through hi skin, muscles, and bone. He remembered the screams that he kept silent as the seemingly endless pain surged through every layer of his body.

_You know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. _He thought to himself.

And stronger he became, faster too. Everything around him had gained this… slowness to it, though at the same time moved as normal. His only match when it came to training now was the other Spartans. He had to pull his punches when training with Ashen Company, which was a select group of soldiers handpicked to assist Team Phoenix in battle. As good as they were, they were not Spartan-good.

Kate was sitting across from Cody, stripping off her suit piece by piece, until she was in nothing but her undergarments. Flipping her short locks of brown hair out of her face, she then nonchalantly threw her crew uniform over her body, which covered her more aesthetically appealing features.

"That's much better." She said exhaling, "Those suits do not leave a lady much to work with, so uncomfortable, itchy too." Cody let out a light burst of laughter which was imitated by the other Spartans in the room, save for Steven.

Michael was busy disassembling his sniper rifle and cleaning each individual part, a daily routine that he enjoyed immensely. That gun was everything to him.

Eric and Brandon were usually bantering back and forth as they were right now. Whenever Cody took the time to join their conversation, it was usually about what happened in yesterday's training, so logically they were most likely now talking about today's mission.

Steven took his helmet off and looked over at the Squad Leader, nodding in acknowledgement as he usually did. His hair was growing back as well, ink black and clinging to his head because of how short it was. The Spartans' quarters were quite decent for military quarters were quite decent for military quarters with beds a little better than average and enough space for at least three more Spartans to bunk, and that's saying something.

When Cody and the other original seventy-five Spartans began their training, they were aged anywhere between four and six. By the time they were deemed ready for augmentations, they were between twelve and fourteen. He and the rest of Team Phoenix had gone through that several months ago.

He reached over and grabbed a datapad off the rectangular box at the foot of his bed. With a few quick flicks of his fingers he had begun writing their mission report. He chronicled their flawless entry, their near-execution at the hands of Mathers' firing squad, and their neutralization the Insurrectionist force by cutting the facility's life support. He pressed the send button and placed it back on his bed. He stripped out of his black vacuum suit and threw on hi crew uniform, a black jumpsuit.

The intercom crackled to life as a beautiful, calming voice spoke over it.

"SPARTAN-223, Lieutenant Commander Ross would like to debrief you and your team, please report to the bridge." The voice said.

"Got it Eva, tell him we'll be there ASAP."

Eva was _Xerxes Fall's _shipboard AI, she was installed into the ship when it came off the assembly line. Though she was very intelligent she was what the tech specialists would call a "dumb" AI, meaning she had a limited learning capacity. This did not interfere with her duties aboard the vessel however.

The rest of Team Phoenix stripped off their vacuum suits and changed into their black jumpsuits. Jogging down the hall, they stopped at a large bulkhead that turned green and opened a second after they stopped. Walking in, they stood in a horizontal line behind their commanding officer, who was currently watching something on his datapad. He looked up, and promptly flicked the video off, Cody couldn't get a good look at the image.

"Squad Leader," he said, "good to see you and your team." Cody and his Spartans promptly placed their hands to their heads in salute and Ross returned it.

"Good to see you too sir." Cody replied.

"I am…" the Lieutenant tried to find a word that fit his feelings, "very impressed at how well you and your team did in neutralizing the Insurrectionist threat on the scanning outpost.

"Thank you sir, but to be honest, if it wasn't for Kate we wouldn't be here, not all of us anyway." Kate smiled proudly at the mention of her actions.

"Yes of course." Anthony Ross then frowned as he looked down at his datapad, then back up at the Spartans, "Unfortunately, I'm not big on good news at this very moment." He gestured at the datapad and threw it to Cody, "take a look at this and you'll see why." Cody easily snatched it out of the air and clicked it back on, starting the video from the beginning.

"The UNSC lost contact with the colonies on Harvest, a farming colony on the outer reaches of UNSC controlled space." He explained as the video played, "FleetCom deployed the scout ship, _Argo, _which they also lost contact with shortly after it exited Slipspace. They then sent the destroyer, _Heracles, _and the frigates _Arabia, _and _Vostok_, the group was led by Captain Veredi." His frown deepened, "They had entered the Harvest system in early October. When they returned, the only thing that came back was the _Heracles_, nearly dead to rights, along with Captain Veredi and some of his crew. Fortunately, we were able to recover its video recordings of what happened."

The video feed was from the view of the _Heracles. _Cody watched as the _Arabia_ and _Vostok_ came on screen. Then a ship that he had never seen before appeared on screen.

Where UNSC ships tended to be angular in shape, this ship had a rounded, curved appearance to it. Its blue exterior resembled the chitin of a bug, smooth and seemingly flawless. It didn't have the same form of propulsion as their ships, where their ships had very active propulsions, with flames and such, this strange ship emitted a blue glow as it glided through space.

"Sir?" Cody asked dumbfounded, "Is this an alien ship?" The other Spartans huddled close to him as they watched the blue craft drift parallel to the _Arabia._

"Indeed, it is alien." Ross answered, "That ship is what wiped out the two frigates and almost destroyed the _Heracles._"

Cody looked at his commanding officer with a suppressed look of shock on his face, and then looked back at the datapad video feed. Suddenly a lance of blue light shot from the ship and it slammed into the _Arabia_, boiling straight through its armor and out the other side. Ignited atmosphere exploded from the inside of the human ship and it was no more.

The _Vostok _and _Heracles _fired upon the alien vessel with their missiles, but to no effect. The shots slammed into a previously invisible barrier. It shined a brilliant silver as the ships' missiles impacted. It fired again, this time destroying the _Vostok_ as easily as the _Arabia_. The video cut out a few seconds afterwards. Team Phoenix wanted to watch it again, not believing what they just saw.

"Captain Veredi was lucky to get out alive." Ross said, "This new enemy calls itself the Covenant' they have superior technology and weapons. Just from this clip, we saw that they have superheated plasma weapons and energy shielding effective enough to protect large vessels from concentrated fire." His tone became more solemn as he went on.

"They sent a message to us in our own language, it reads, 'Your destruction is the will of the Gods and we are their instrument.' which means peace talks are out of the question."

"What do you suggest we do then sir?" Cody asked.

"_You_ won't be doing anything right now." Ross said, "Our ship is currently headed towards Reach, we're going to get you and your team into the final phase of Spartan training."

"What is that sir?" Cody inquired, now very curious.

"Project: MJOLNIR." The Lieutenant Commander said, as if he expected them to know.

"And what is that?" Cody asked.

"Something that will even the odds against our new foe. John-117 and the other thirty-three Spartans are going to be told this and are going to be sent to another facility to get their hands on it as well."

John-117… Cody thought on that name for a long time. Other than the six Spartans in Team Phoenix, thirty-three other Spartans survived their augmentations to fight for humanity. John was made Squad Leader of the original seventy-five candidates. Unfortunately, he and the other Spartans, they would never know of the survival of Cody and the rest of Team Phoenix. The ONI representative on _Xerxes Fall,_ Dr. Alina Hollis, said that Team Phoenix was better off kept a secret for now. Though Cody had a certain longing for hi old squad leader, he was content with the position he was in right now.

"Ok Spartans, dismissed." Ross said smiling despite his bad news, "Get some rest, Eva will call on you when we've reached our destination." Team Phoenix once again saluted Lieutenant Commander Ross, and he returned it, after which he turned around and started looking over data and ship diagnostics on the holoscreen behind him.

Team Phoenix exited through the bulkhead and went back to their quarters. Cody laid on his back staring at the ceiling from his bed.

The Covenant? The way he saw it, they reminded him of a certain group called the Persians he was taught about during his Spartan training. This is what they were made for, the Spartans of old, numbered around three-hundred, killed hundreds upon hundreds more Persians than there were Spartans. The same would happen to the Covenant. Team Phoenix would do what they were made to do.

They were going to win.


	5. C2: We Have The Technology

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo (Copyright), Halo Products (Copyright), or Halo affiliated companies… such as Bungie (Copyright) or Microsoft (Copyright) because a lot of things these days are copyrighted am I right? Not that that isn't a bad thing. OC's and OL's belong to me though!...(Copyright….not.) T.T**

**Chapter 2: We Have the Technology**

**0800 Hours, November 4****th**** 2525 (Military Calendar), Aboard UNSC **_**Xerxes Fall **_**approaching Planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

Corporal Zachary Reynolds and Corporal Allan Whitmore (Team Phoenix's designated pilot) of Ashen Company sat against the wall of the ship's training room. They passed a bottle of water between each other and took small sips from it as they watched Team Phoenix spar. Cody was partnered with Steve, Kate with Brandon, and Eric with Michael.

"Damn," Allan said, "those guys are fast."

"Yeah." Zach replied. Both marines had trouble following the Spartans' movements, their bodies nearly blurring with the amazing speed they were moving.

"So why we headed to reach anyways?" Zach asked, "Not that I don't enjoy heading home for once."

"Sergeant Hafferty said something about the Spartans testing some project the ONI eggheads are working on." Allan answered, "While they're doing that, we get some shore leave."

"Thank god," said the other marine, "this ship is big, but you get stir crazy after awhile."

Allan smiled big, "I know where I'm going, New Alexandria, gonna enjoy the night life the clubs," He gave Zach a smirk, "the beautiful women." Zachary let out a hearty laugh as he took a swig from the water bottle. "You can join me if you like Corporal Reynolds."

"Thanks, but no thanks." The younger Corporal replied, "I'm gonna visit my family, my sister is probably missing me right now."

"I gotcha." Allan suddenly made a series of yells aimed towards the training Spartans," C'mon give him a left, no wait a right! Kick him in the face!"

Zach gave Allan a questioning look and Allan looked back as if his behavior wasn't unusual.

"What? Those guys fight really good. Makes for a good show."

Zach sighed and watched as Cody-223 got tripped by a sweep kick from Steven-274. Steven reversed his grip on his blunt training knife and went to bring it down on his squad leader's chest, but Cody rose up a leg and kicked his arm aside. He rolled backwards onto his feet and ran at Steven, pulling his fist back and throwing his fist forward. He stopped almost right before the fist hit and spun his body around to Steven's back, sending his left elbow into the back of his head.

Steven staggered forward and swung his knife blindly behind him. Cody caught his arm with both hands and twisted it violently to the side; the force would've broken a regular person's arm. Steven's body slammed into the blue-matted floor and Cody kicked his knife out of his hand. Its metallic clatter echoed through the training room.

Cody let go of his ally's arm and held his hand out to help him up, Steven took it and nodded, a small smile on his face that quickly disappeared.

"You were getting too hasty, became easy to telegraph." The Squad Leader said.

Steven nodded, "Good spar sir." Steven said in response. Picking up his training knife, he patted Cody on the back as they lay down and did push-ups, their bodies effortlessly doing the exercise. Zach and Allan watched trying to hold in their shock.

"Damn," Allan said with awe, "they make us look like wimps."

"Yeah, they didn't even get a drink of water." Zach took another sip out of their bottle.

They watched the outcomes of the other two fights, Kate beat Brandon, and Michael lost to Eric. Cody and Steven were on their three-hundredth push ups when Eva's voice spoke over the intercom.

"Attention all personnel, we are approaching Planet Reach and are about to land, all personnel prepare to leave the ship if scheduled to do so."

Team Phoenix got up and walked out of the room, the two Corporals following close behind.

. . . .

Cody and the rest of Team Phoenix were being escorted by Alina Hollis, _Xerxes Fall's _ONI representative. They were going down a path in the middle of a forest. Cody was not familiar with this region of Reach. After about ten minutes of hiking through forest, they came upon a large facility. It seemed out of place, a large monolith of steel in the middle of forest, almost rebellious towards nature with its very existence.

"Spartans," Dr. Hollis said, "this is the research facility code-named: AVALON." She gave them time to marvel at it before she continued, "Come on, they are expecting you."

"Yes m'am." The Spartans all said at once. Alina tied her hair in a ponytail to get it out of her eyes. She too looked out of place, clad in a dull grey pantsuit.

Walking up to the facility, Alina punched a code into the keypad and the entrance opened to allow them inside. Team Phoenix followed the doctor through hall after hall until they came to an elevator. It was a tight fit, the Spartans and the doctor taking up almost all the space in the compartment. It started going down, after about five minutes  
Eric groaned.

"Where is this elevator going, Hell?" he said impatiently. The elevator was quiet as nobody thought him funny.

"This elevator goes down to Sector 2-5. Our more, important and delicate experiments are tested here." Alina answered, "Project: MJOLNIR is down here."

"So what is MJOLNIR then if it's down here?" Kate asked.

"Patience Spartans," Alina said calmly, "we're almost there."

Suddenly, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing a large expanse lying underneath the AVALON research facility. The Spartans' eyes widened once again.

"This place is so big." Brandon said, awestruck.

"We have… a lot of delicate and important things to work on." Alina said, smiling. "Most of our work is anyways."

Apparently they did have plenty of things to do, this place, underneath the original facility, was at least double the size of the building above. The very structure was etched and carved out of the surrounding stone. Technicians, scientists, and even some soldiers were seen running back and forth.

"Officially," Alina interjected, "this place does not exist, whatever people you see here were deemed fit to keep this place a secret." She eyed the Spartans with acknowledgement, "I hope you six can do the same."

"Yes m'am." The Spartans said simultaneously.

Walking out of the elevator, they proceeded down makeshift hallways, made by erecting giant steel walls that didn't completely reach the ceiling of the cave. They appeared to be made solely for the purpose of separating the various testing areas. They approached a single door marked MJOLNIR and Alina punched in a twenty digit code and it beeped and opened.

The room was not that big, the only thing that stood out was the circular room adjacent to it, and what hung at the other end, Project: MJOLNIR. Cody walked up to it and looked it over.

It was a suit of armor; in fact it reminded him of the exoskeletons he saw some of the trainers use during his Spartan training, only smaller, much smaller. It reflected light off of its polished, faint green coating. Underneath the armor plates was a tight-fitting black armor mesh, similar to their vacuum suits. The visor was a polished gold that, upon looking at it, Cody could see his reflection. The helmet had vents on the sides of where the mouth would go and on top was a protrusion of black that stuck out like the visor of a hat.

"This," Dr. Hollis said proudly, "is the Mark IV MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor." Cody placed his hand on the suit in front of him; on the chest plate in small white block lettering was the number 223.

"Pardon m'am," Kate interrupted, "but it's just a suit of armor isn't it?"

"That's where you're wrong Kate." Alina replied, "This suit is made of a reinforced titanium alloy that can take small arms fire and some forms of heavy weaponry. Its coating is also capable of slightly reflecting our new enemy's energy weapons for a short amount of time. The suit regulates body temperature, oxygen levels, and more accurately portrays the vitality of you and your teammates. The Heads Up Display has also been updated, including a neural lace upgrade that allows your thought processes to command the entire suit and all its accessories, making link between man and machine almost unperceivable." She paused to let them take it in, "That is not, however, what makes this armor so significant. This armor features a reactive metal liquid crystal layer between the outer and inner layers of the suit. This crystal, interwoven into the armor itself amplifies your force significantly, doubling your strength and cuts your reaction time down to a fifth of its original length, making you even more able to hostile threats in battle."

The Spartans' eyes widened. Five times faster? They thought they were fast already, was it possible to get any better?

"So… who wants to try it on first?" Ever Spartan raised their hand almost at the same time.

"Seeing as Brandon raised his hand last, making him the slowest, he will need the suit more than the rest of you." Alina smirked, "Come on up Brandon." The other Spartans quietly muttered their disapproval as Brandon strode up to the suit marked 323. She guided Brandon to the adjacent empty room and called some nearby technicians to her and the youngest member of Team Phoenix.

"I need you to stand as still as you can okay Brandon?"

"Got it m'am." Brandon said cheerfully, stiffening up his body straight as a board as technicians gathered around him and began to assemble the suit.

They put it together around him, like a puzzle, assembling it piece by piece carefully. Once the first layers were on, they proceeded to put on the titanium exterior. Finally, the helmet was placed over his head, a light hiss heard as the air was sealed inside the armor. There was silence for a moment as Brandon looked around at his fellow Spartans.

"Can you hear me, Spartan?" Dr. Hollis asked calmly. The head suddenly snapped towards Hollis and nodded.

"I hear you loud and clear m'am." Brandon said.

"Good, that means aural sensors and vocal transmitters work fine." She said as she checked off diagnostics information on her datapad. "Ok now I need you to move your hand to head level, can you do that?"

Brandon did so and the other Spartans watched as his hand moved in an inconceivable blur to his face, Brandon almost hitting himself in the process. One moment his arm was at his side, the next it was level with his head.

"I got dibs on being next." Eric said with a smile.

"Brandon, proceed to the obstacle course," Hollis said, "test out the armor, and go through the course as many times as you see necessary. There is a waypoint to the course on you HUD."

"Right on it." Brandon almost fell over taking his first step, his newfound speed nearly causing him to trip over himself. He decided to take a slow, deliberate jog instead until he was used to it and left the room.

The other Spartans chuckled at Brandon's blunder and stood back at attention when they were satisfied.

"So…" Alina asked, "whose next?"


End file.
